All Roses Have Thorns
by Headlock
Summary: The sequel to Rose's Ramblings: Being in a relationship is never easy – but it's almost impossible when you are Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy! The fun and the romance from Rose's Ramblings continues.
1. In Which James Loses His Temper

Chapter One – In Which James Loses his Temper

Here is the problem with having a boyfriend from a different House: it is almost impossible to find somewhere to be alone. You would think, of course, that with Hogwarts being a castle of enormous size that there would be a room SOMEWHERE where two people could be alone, talk privately and maybe… yes, kiss. But this proved to be impossible, the more Scorpius and I searched. There was simply no place in the castle that was so closed off that no one would burst in on us at bad times. We had tried the Library, under the pretext of studying, though really kissing behind the bookshelves, but were interrupted by Ophi, who turned very red in the face and walked off, muttering to himself about needing information about dragon snot, in which case he was in the wrong section. We had also tried an empty classroom, but were discovered by Peeves, who proceeded to throw water balloons at us, and yell about students out of bed and we had to run back to our Common Rooms to avoid being caught by one of the teachers. We had even tried the Quidditch field after dark, thinking that no one in their right minds would want to go out there, but yet again we were wrong. It turns out that James, my older cousin, likes to practice his flying skills at night. James, true to form, seemed on the verge of a rage blackout. His eyes bulged in that peculiar way that makes me worried that they might one day just spring out of his sockets. James' face grew steadily redder and redder as he surveyed the scene in front of him. As a boy who has watched his cousin grow up her entire life, it couldn't have been easy for him.

Scorpius and I had been sitting across from each other, kissing, and, I am almost embarrassed to admit it, Scorpius had been roving around a bit under my shirt. The sight that met James was one featuring Scorpius, hair slightly askew, looking up at James with a smirk on his face, and me, straightening up my shirt, blushing furiously.

"You…" James rasped, jabbing a finger into Scorpius' face. He seemed to have lost his voice. "And you!" He pointed aggressively at me. "Here! On- on the Quidditch field! Kissing! Or worse! Here!"

James stared at us some more, as though no words could describe the crime that we had committed against him, personally. "On the Quidditch field!" he wheezed, sounding as though both his voice and his air supply had gone upon receiving such a shock. "On this most holy of places…"

"Oh, honestly, James," I said, rolling my eyes. "It's only a patch of grass."

James' eyes seemed to grow, just as his rage at this comment seemed to grow. Scorpius turned to me, a look of bewilderment on his face. "You did not just call the Quidditch field a patch of grass," he said.

I had forgotten that I was in the company of two Quidditch obsessed freaks. Honestly, I enjoy Quidditch very much as well. I am, after all, the best Chaser on the Gryffindor team. I just see it as a sport, as any healthy person would, not as a religion.

"What were you doing to her?" James yelled at Scorpius, having suddenly regained full use of his voice.

"What does it look like?" Scorpius asked, his smirk only growing wider. At that moment, I actually didn't know which of those two irritated me the most.

"You – you – THAT'S MY LITTLE COUSIN!" James roared, and with that he punched Scorpius right in the face. Scorpius keeled over backwards and fell on the ground.

"James!" I screamed. "What were you thinking? You might have hurt him. He would never attack you –"

"_Furnunculus!" _Scorpius cried from the ground, and James yelped. Boils started sprouting out all over his face and his hands.

"Scorpius!" I shrieked.

"_Densaugeo!" _James hollered. Scorpius dodged this spell and instead yelled, "_Tarantallegra!", _which caused James' legs to start tap dancing maniacally.

"Please stop, both of you!" I shouted at them, but to no avail. Before their stupid fight was over, James was covered in boils, had sprouted antlers and had very sore legs. Scorpius had horns, several ugly marks on his face from when James attacked him with birds as well as a black eye, and was unable to say anything, due to the fact that his tongue was glued to the top of his mouth. I marched both of them up to the Hospital Wing, which Madam Pomfrey was not too happy about. She fixed them up, however, and informed their Heads of Houses, so that they each lost fifty points for their House. Both were in a particularly bad and bitter mood.

The next day I made them apologize to each other, which was not easy as both of them were clearly still hurting from the night before. They shook hands, however, for my sake, and after that they became oddly formal whenever they saw each other.

Scorpius and I were still no closer to finding an ideal place for spending time alone. We had now finally decided to just take long walks around the lake, which was becoming more unbearable as we reached the Christmas holidays. It was in the week up to Christmas break that I told Scorpius that all this walking around the lake was becoming a tad bit too painful for me.

"It's far too cold," I complained.

Scorpius refused to see this. "Don't worry," he said brightly. "I'll warm you." He wrapped both arms around me and began to try to warm me up by rubbing them against my arms.

"It'll be better during the Christmas break, when we maybe can be alone a bit," I said. I knew that this was laying it on a bit thick. Scorpius and I had only been together for two months, and I knew that I didn't really have any right to demand to be invited over to his house for Christmas break. But I really did think that we needed some time alone. Also, I couldn't invite him over to my house, as my parents had no idea that I was seeing Scorpius, and I had sworn my family at Hogwarts to secrecy. I hoped that Scorpius wasn't waiting for an invitation to my house.

"Yeah, that would be nice," said Scorpius, stopping up and looking at me. What ensued was a staring contest, a battle of the wills. Scorpius was clearly waiting for me to say something, and I was waiting for him to say something. It just wasn't going to happen. And I couldn't tell him that I was keeping our relationship a secret. That would truly hurt him.

After about two whole minutes, I said, "Oh, look, the Giant Squid has caught a student!"

"What?" said Scorpius, and spun around to look at the lake, which was frozen without any sign of students or squids. "Rose, the Giant Squid isn't even here."

"Oh, oops," I said. "I must have been seeing things."

Scorpius raised his eyebrows at me, but clearly decided not to pursue the subject. Instead he decided to kiss me, pressing his cold lips against my own. It was slightly awkward, as my teeth were chattering so much that my entire face was shaking. Scorpius sighed. "Maybe we should start meeting in the Library again."

That evening at dinner, I related my troubles to my best friend, Albus. "Is it because he doesn't want to see me over the holidays?" I asked him, spooning some tomato soup into his bowl (Albus is blind, after all).

"No," said Albus.

"Well, what do you think it is? Do you think that he is ashamed of me? Doesn't want to introduce me to his parents?"

"Maybe," said Albus. "But I sincerely doubt it."

I sighed. "Well, if it's because he's ashamed of showing me to his parents, he really is more of an arrogant prick than I thought."

Albus snorted.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Yes, something, what?"

I glared at Albus, forgetting for a few moments that, as a blind boy, Albus is immune to this. He gave in nonetheless.

"It's just – you don't think that you're being a little unfair?" he said in a very gentle voice, as though talking to an aggressive dragon that might blow fire at him any moment. "I mean, you're accusing him of not inviting you to stay because he is embarrassed to be your boyfriend. But… you haven't even told your parents about your relationship. Aren't you the one who is embarrassed?"

"Of course not!" I cried out, enraged. "How could I ever be embarrassed about Scorpius? He is the best looking boy in our year – no offense – and he is smart, and funny and kind – when you get to know him. I just… I just have no idea how to start that conversation with my parents. You know how much they hate the Malfoys – especially my father."

"You say, 'Hi, mom, hi dad, I have a new boyfriend at school, his name is Scorpius Malfoy, he's a great guy,'" suggested Albus.

"No," I said, shaking my head. "No. They would either laugh, because they thought it was a joke, or cry, because I had betrayed the family honor, so, no."

Albus sighed. "Well, then, how do you know that Scorpius isn't in the same situation?"

"Because Scorpius isn't intimidated by anyone. Not even James," I said, recalling with annoyance their fight on the Quidditch field.

"You don't know how he is with his parents," said Albus. I still thought that I was right, though. Scorpius just wasn't the type to be afraid of saying anything. In fact, he delighted in saying whatever popped into his head, whenever. He didn't really care about accidentally offending people that much.

"Speak of the devil," I said, as I spotted Scorpius and my other good friend, Demetria, making their way from the Slytherin table over to our Gryffindor table. Scorpius stopped behind my chair and stooped to kiss me on the cheek.

"Hello, queen of my heart," he said, and ruffled my hair. James, from across the table, grew suddenly somber and glowered at Scorpius.

"Malfoy," he said formally.

Scorpius glared back at James. "Potter," he spat out.

"Looking forward to break?" James asked in falsely polite voice.

"Very much, thanks. Enjoying your dinner?" Scorpius inquired, echoing James' tone.

"I was," said James bitterly. I cleared my throat in warning, and Scorpius turned back to me.

"Just wanted to say goodnight," he said. "I have to go back to the Common Room and finish an essay for Charms."

"Right," I said. "Good luck with that."

"No such thing," said Scorpius, and grinned at me before stalking off, stopping only to throw another scathing glare in James' direction.

Demetria threw herself into the seat next to me. "Boys," she said.

"Indeed."

"So," Demetria continued, "how are you, despite everything?"

"Despite everything?"

"Oh, you know," said Demetria, "being a Weasley, being a redhead, being Scorpius Malfoy's long – suffering girlfriend, being freckled…"

"Well, yes, despite my unhappy fate, I'm good," I said.

"Glad to hear it," Demetria said, grinning and thereby showing her abnormally sharp teeth. "We're going to have so much fun this Christmas break."

I wasn't aware that we would be seeing each other. "We are?"

"Yeah," said Demetria, looking at me with bewilderment. "At Malfoy Manor?"

"I – I didn't know that I was going to Malfoy Manor," I said quietly, looking down at my hands.

"What?" Demetria said loudly. "Has Scorpius not asked you yet?"

"You mean he's going to?"

"I don't know!" cried Demetria, throwing up her hands. "I just – I just assumed, seeing as you're a couple, and his parents are hosting a ball…"

"They're hosting a BALL?" I almost shouted.

"You didn't KNOW?" Demetria nearly yelled back at me.

We sat in silence, staring at each other for a few minutes. "I can't believe he hasn't invited you. It's the biggest event of the year!"

I looked down at my hands again, feeling ridiculous. "Maybe – maybe he's ashamed of me," I said in a very small voice.

"Of course he's not ashamed of you. Stop being such a martyr," Demetria said. I had forgotten that she wasn't much for comforting people. Demetria isn't that good with feelings. Perhaps because she rarely has any. "He adores you. Can't shut up about how gorgeous and witty you are, though Merlin knows I can't always see it." Demetria isn't that good with compliments, either. "Look, I'll talk to him, okay? I won't say that we talked, I'll just beat up his little blonde behind for being such a prick."

This brought out a smile. "Thanks, Demetria," I said. The thought of Demetria scolding Scorpius for not mentioning his family's ball was comforting to me, but it didn't quite help mend my worries – _why _didn't Scorpius want to invite me to his house for Christmas break?


	2. In Which Rose Receives A Death Threat

Chapter Two – In Which Rose Receives A Death Threat

The next morning I awoke feeling as though I hadn't slept at all. This was probably because that was partly true - I had been up most of the night studying for an important test in Defense Against the Dark Arts that I couldn't bear to fail. Professor Knightly had been very stern when he told us that this test would be of the utmost importance to him when trying to decide how well we were doing, and which careers to suggest to us. I therefor had to give him the best impression possible. After all, I wasn't entirely sure what I wanted to do once I was finished with Hogwarts, but I knew that it had to be something wonderful, and no one ever becomes someone wonderful if they fail their tests. That and Professor Knightly frightened me quite a bit. It was something about his bushy mustache and his short temper, and his very high expectations to us. As one of the best students in the class, I often fulfilled these expectations, but I still felt that I had to work hard to get there. Scorpius, who was also in my Defense Against the Dark Arts class - we had it with the Slytherins - was also one of the best students, of course, but he somehow didn't always seem to care enough about school to want to work as hard as I did.

This was obvious by the fact that when he showed up to Defense Against the Dark Arts that day (five minutes late, as usual) he did not have the dark shadows under his eyes like I did, and did not look at all worried or nervous about the test that lay ahead. He slid casually into the seat next to me and winked. I smiled at him and turned my attention back up to Professor Knightly at once, who was filling us in on the details concerning the test.

"There will be questions on everything that you have learned throughout all your years in Hogwarts. They will not be placed in order, however, so it is up to you to think back and remember what you have learned when-"

Scorpius poked me in the ribs. I jumped in my seat, and then turned around to glare at him, but he only grinned back. "Been up all night studying, have you?"

"Yes," I muttered. "Shut up."

I tried to give Professor Knightly my full attention again, but Scorpius naturally had to give me another poke in the ribs, right where I am the most ticklish, causing me to emit a high pitched giggle. Professor Knightly turned his stern dark eyes on me.

"Do you find the Unforgivable Curses funny, Miss Weasley?"

"No, sir," I said, almost shaking. "No, sir, not at all. I - a fly tickled me."

"A fly," Professor Knightly repeated dully, not sounding as though he believed me at all. However, he seemed to choose to ignore this and continued on his lecture on what we were to do during this test. Beside me, I heard Scorpius snort quietly with laughter. I gave him my best Death Glare.

"Thought that was funny, did you?" I hissed at him. "Knightly might have kicked me out of the classroom!"

"Oh, stop worrying about it," whispered Scorpius back. "You're going to ace this test. Completely going to kick my ass."

I rolled my eyes. "That's impossible, Scorpius, and you know it," I told him. "You always do well on these tests, though I have no idea why..."

"It's my extremely perfect memory," Scorpius said. "You know how I can remember almost anything. Just like the fact that you are unbelievably ticklish, right... there." He poked me in the ribs again. I tried to hold back any improper sounds this time and instead managed to kick the leg of the table with such ferocity that I possibly fractured a toe.

"Miss Weasley," Professor Knightly said, turning to me once more. "Is there a problem? Will you be unable to take this test? Are you having a fit that requires medical attention?" A few people from the back of the class snickered.

"No," I told him, feeling ridiculous.

"Then please try to sit still," said Professor Knightly. "Or I may feel compelled to place a Silencing Charm on you - or perhaps a Sticking Curse to your buttocks to ensure that you remain in your seat."

This being said he turned away and started passing out the tests.

"Stupid old bugger," said Scorpius casually beside me.

"Shut up," I snapped at him. "You could have gotten me a Sticking Curse! Or worse - gotten me thrown out of the classroom, so I wouldn't be able to take the test!"

"You know," said Scorpius, "most people would think it worse to have a Sticking Curse on their butt. You need to think about your priorities."

I glowered at him, but he only smiled in return. His smile was so genuine and sweet that I relented and smiled back, before taking a test from Professor Knightly.

"No talking," the Professor told us, frowning.

I took out my quill and turned to the test. The truth was that I perhaps not only was irritated with Scorpius for annoying me so much. I was also concerned as to why he STILL had not invited me to his house - or to his parents' ball for the holidays. I couldn't understand why he wasn't doing anything about it, why he hadn't mentioned anything yet, especially not if Demetria had had the conversation with him that she had promised me the day before. Perhaps she had forgotten. Or perhaps, an even happier thought, Scorpius had completely forgotten about asking me, and had assumed, like Demetria, that he had already done so, or that it was just implied that I would come. This comforted me a little, and I was finally able to concentrate on the test.

After Defense Against the Dark Arts, Scorpius and I left the classroom, accompanied by our usual flock of friends – Albus, Felicia, Demetria and Ophi.

"I thought that test was too hard," Ophi said, shaking his head. "I have no idea what the name of the curse to slow an object down is…"

"_Impedimenta,"_ Scorpius and I said at the same time.

"Oh, yeah…" said Ophi. "Now I feel even more stupid."

"How did you think the test went, Albus?" Demetria asked him, making me stop in my tracks and stare at her. Scorpius nudged me forward. Albus seemed just as surprised as I was.

"I… um," he said.

"Albus thinks it went well," Felicia, Albus' girlfriend, informed Demetria in a superior tone. "He thought that the questions were easy, and he's been studying quite a bit."

Demetria raised her eyebrows. "Oh, are you speaking for Albus now?"

Felicia blushed. "I happen to know Albus exceedingly well," Felicia said, and wrapped and arm around Albus' shoulders. Albus kept opening and closing his mouth, as though confused by the events taking place around him.

"Albus, what do you have now?" Demetria asked him. Her tone was almost kind.

"Divination," Felicia answered immediately. "We have to see into Crystal Balls today."

"Tough luck for Potter," Scorpius muttered.

I smacked the back of his head. I didn't appreciate Scorpius joking about my cousin's blindness. Demetria and Felicia seemed to be having some kind of staring contest, each trying to glare the other down. Albus was happily oblivious to this, and continued walking on with a smile on his face.

We parted ways in the Entrance Hall for our different subjects. Felicia and Albus had Divination up in the North Tower – a subject that I would never choose, as my parents had warned me of its uselessness and pointlessness – Ophi had Muggle Studies – another subject that I would never choose, seeing as I regularly spent summers with my very Muggle maternal grandparents – and Scorpius, Demetria and I had Arithmancy.

In the Arithmancy classroom Demetria immediately claimed a seat next to me, even shoving Scorpius aside to get it.

"Ouch," Scorpius said, mournfully rubbing his elbow. "That's twice you've nearly injured me fatally today."

Demetria rolled her eyes. "As if you can't handle it. Shove off."

Scorpius scowled at her and took a seat next to another Slytherin.

Demetria turned her wide silver – blue eyes to mine. She was smiling, something that was not only very rare, but also slightly unsettling, due to the pointiness of her teeth. Although I now thought that the theory I had had two months ago of Demetria being a vampire was silly, I still didn't exactly love the way her white teeth gleamed in the light from the window.

"What do you want?" I asked her warily.

"How serious is the relationship between Albus and Felicia?" she asked me.

I gaped at her. I had no idea why she would care about this. After all, some of Demetria's favorite hobbies were annoying Felicia and ignoring Albus. Demetria had a dominating personality, and so did Felicia. The two of them often clashed over stupid, silly little things, and I had the feeling that they only put up with each other because of me.

"I have no idea," I told her honestly.

"Oh, come off it," Demetria said, losing the fake smile. "We both know that they are two of your best friends. They must confide in you a little bit."

The thing was that they didn't really confide in me. Well, Albus did, Albus being my best friend and all. But all Albus ever said about Felicia was how perfect she was, and how beautiful she was. He never seemed to have anything serious to say about their relationship. Felicia, however, seemed to hardly ever talk to me anymore. It felt like I was with her a lot, because we hung out in the same group. But in reality, it was more Felicia being with Albus while he was talking to me. When we were in the girls' dormitory Felicia talked mostly to Eurydice and Ellen. Jane, the last girl in our dormitory, had suddenly started being uncommonly kind to me, though I had no idea why. Normally Jane was hard to pull out from behind her romance novels.

"Well," I said uncertainly. "Albus seems to be very fond of Felicia. I don't know how she feels. We don't… we don't talk much."

"Yeah, I've noticed that," Demetria said, frowning slightly. "She seems to have gone off you a bit, hasn't she?"

I didn't know what to say to this.

"Why are you interested anyway?" I asked, changing the subject. "And why did you keep asking Albus questions today?"

"Wasn't it just infuriating how Felicia kept answering for him?" Demetria said.

"Answer the question," I said.

At that moment, however, our Arithmancy Professor, a Professor Nott, called the class to order and began to review the homework for today. I was having a hard time concentrating though, because I could see Demetria being relieved about Professor Nott starting the lesson.

I kicked her under the table. When she turned to glare at me, I glared right back, until she sighed heavily and gestured for me to lean in closer. I did.

"It's because," she whispered in my ear, "I'm in love with Albus."

"WHAT?" I burst out loudly.

The entire class stared at me. "I was saying, Miss Weasley," said Professor Nott, looking at me as though he thought I was some sort of mental case, "that you should all have prepared your charts. This can hardly come as a shock, as I informed you of this last week."

"Oh, no, Professor," I said. Why did I have to blush so much right now? "I just… found a serious mistake in my own."

This was such a lie. I never make mistakes in my homework.

"Are you having a fit, Rosie?" Scorpius asked me from the other side of the classroom, smirking. Adrasteia Spiros, the Slytherin girl sitting next to Scorpius, laughed loudly and shook her dark, curly hair. I didn't particularly like Adrasteia. Especially not when she laughed at Scorpius' jokes.

Professor Nott chose to ignore the pair of them, which I found to be extremely unfair. He continued reviewing our charts, but I just could pay attention to anything now.

"Demetria," I whispered to her, "you can't be serious."

"Of course I am," Demetria snapped back. "Does it seem like something that I would joke about?"

"No," I said. "It's just… well, you never really seemed interested in him before."

"Well, I wasn't," said Demetria. "It's just come on lately. I don't know. He's just… he's really funny, you know? And good lucking. And – and _kind._"

I never thought that Demetria counted kindness as a quality.

"But look," Demetria whispered, turning in her seat to face me. "If you breathe a word of this to anyone – and I mean _anyone _ - even Scorpius – I will kill you."

"I won't say anything," I assured her.

"No, I mean it," Demetria said, narrowing her eyes. "If I find out that you have told this to someone, I will seriously bat – bogey hex you out of this world. And then I will hunt you down, and I will perform the Furnunculus Curse on you, so you become so ugly no one will ever talk to you again. And then I'll perform a Leg – Locker Curse – you know how good I am at those – so you can't move, and _then _I will. Kill. You."

I stared at her, open – mouthed. "Okay," I said lamely, once I found my voice again.

"Great!" Demetria said cheerfully, flashing a pointy smile before turning her attention back to Professor Nott.

Though I was seriously shaken, I still worked up the courage to ask Demetria one more thing. "Did… did you have time to take that little chat with Scorpius that we talked about yesterday?"

"Oh, yeah," Demetria said. "Yeah, I did. Took it this morning. He has a rather nasty bruise on his left shoulder now."

"What did you do to him?" I asked, appalled. Demetria was frightening me a lot today.

Demetria shrugged. "Shoved him around a bit until he answered me. I know he's played Quidditch for years and all, but I'm stronger than I look, and he really is a skinny little thing."

Scorpius _is _skinny, and not much taller than me. Nonetheless, he is one of the most wanted boys among the girls in our year. The way his white – blonde hair falls into those witty grey eyes – and those full lips, always smiling, smirking or laughing… I could clearly remember Eurydice from my own House, who had had insisted that she had fallen in love with him about the same time that I did. Luckily, she forgave me for "taking him from her".

"Well," I whispered. "What did you find out?"

Demetria sighed. "Look," she said, "I think that you should ask him yourself."

"What? I can't do that! He'll think I'm begging for an invitation."

Demetria shook her head. "No, he won't. It's a good question to ask. He should have invited you, and you ought to confront him. But don't worry. It's not because he's ashamed of you or anything."

"Then why is it?"

"_Ask him yourself!"_ Demetria snapped, and we turned our attention to Professor Nott at last, though I couldn't help myself from sneaking glances at Scorpius and Adrasteia once in a while.

Hello, dear readers! Please remember to leave a review. Tell me what was good or bad, suggestions for the rest of the story etc. Your reviews motivate me to keep writing. Thanks for reading!


	3. In Which Scorpius Is Attacked

Chapter Three – In Which Scorpius Is Attacked

That evening, as I sat at the table trying to ignore the pork chops staring up at me, begging me to sink my teeth into them, I could feel Felicia's enmity towards me even more. The more I thought about it, the more I noticed that she now hardly ever uttered any words to me, unless it was to ask me to pass the salt, which she accepted with a scowl.

I decided to turn my attention to the pork chops instead, and ignore Felicia. I was still a vegetarian, of course, but it wasn't going very well at all – still. For some reason, the House Elves at Hogwarts seemed only capable of making _really good food_ that I just couldn't pass up, when its delicious smells wafted under my nose. I wondered if the pig behind the pork chops had suffered when being slaughtered. I decided that it was probably a quick death, and I snuck one over to my plate, eating it in secrecy, constantly throwing glances around me to ensure that no one had seen.

"Eating meat?"

I jumped into the air, and slammed my knife down, hitting Al's left hand. "Ouch!" he cried out, as his index finger began to bleed profusely. Looking around, I saw Scorpius and Demetria staring at me with incredulous expressions on their faces. My heart sank as I realized that Adrasteia was there as well, laughing that high pitched laugh of hers. What was she _doing _there? Didn't she ever just go away?

I jumped to my feet and pushed the plate away from me, trying to look as innocent as possible. Felicia was now holding Al's hand up above his head, saying something about blood flowing to the heart.

"What are you trying to do?" Felicia screeched at me. "Murder him?"

"I, uh, no…" I answered intelligently.

"Oh, don't be ridiculous," snapped Demetria. "He'll be fine. I know a spell that can heal that cut, you know."

"It's not a cut, she _stabbed _him!" Felicia cried.

"I didn't mean to!" I said hopelessly, throwing my hands up in the air.

"Can't he just go to the Hospital Wing?" Scorpius asked.

"I feel faint," Albus said weakly.

I was acutely aware of the entire Gryffindor table now staring at us, making a spectacle. Adrasteia was still laughing in that awful way, her tiny little nose scrunched up, making her look like some crazed animal. Jane, who was sitting across from me, stared owlishly up at us through her enormous glasses that magnified her eyes about ten times. Eurydice and Ellen, who had been deep in conversation with Felicia before the accident happened, were now looking at me with narrowed eyes.

"I think he's in mortal danger," Eurydice said darkly.

"Oh, honestly," said Demetria, scowling at Eurydice, "I happen to know a spell that can fix him right up."

"Excuse me," countered Felicia, in an overly polite tone, "_I, _Albus' _girlfriend_, happen to also know a spell that can heal this wound."

As far as I knew, neither Felicia nor Demetria knew any such spell, as neither one of them had ever taken Healing courses, nor had they ever played Quidditch, so they had never been in a situation where this was required.

Scorpius seemed to be thinking along the same lines. "You know," he said carefully, eyes darting from Felicia to Demetria, "I think that it would be easiest if someone just escorted him to the Hospital Wing."

"I'm losing a lot of blood," Al said, in what I would consider to be an overly weak voice.

"What's going on here?" a voice said behind me. I turned around. It was probably the person that I least wanted to see at that moment – James. "Who tried to kill Al?"

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "No one tried to kill Albus, it was an accident."

James eyes widened, and then started bulging out again. His face turned dark red. "It was _you_, wasn't it?"

"I – what? No," said Scorpius, looking warily at James, whose hand was clutching something inside his robes. "No, no, no," he added hurriedly, as James pulled out his wand. "No, it was…"

"NOT HAPPY WITH STEALING ROSIE AWAY FROM HER FAMILY?" James hollered. "THOUGHT YOU WOULD ATTEMPT MURDER ON MY LITTLE BROTHER?"

"No," said Scorpius, obviously trying to be calm, though I could see him slowly pulling his wand out of his back pocket. "Rose-"

"MY _BLIND _LITTLE BROTHER, BY THE WAY?"

"Can we please focus on the dying person here?" Felicia shrieked, pointing down at Al, who was actually looking a little pale.

"I'll take him to the Hospital Wing," I suggested, willing to do anything to get out of that situation.

"I think you've done enough, Rose," Felicia said coldly. "I'm going to heal him."

"No, you're not," snapped Demetria. "I am. You probably don't even know what to do."

"Yes I do!" cried Felicia. "_Helios!"_ She jabbed her wand at Al's hand, which now burst into flames. Al screamed out.

"Now look what you've done!" Demetria yelled. Adrasteia had stopped laughing, and was now looking at us with mild concern on her face, as though observing a flock of animals fighting.

"_Aquamenti!"_ I cried, and water sprouted out of my wandtip onto Al's hand, stopping the fire.

"_I'll _take him to the Hospital Wing," Demetria said, clutching Al's shoulder with her clawlike fingers. "_You _clearly don't know the first thing about treating a sick person." She wrenched poor Al out of his seat and started marching him out of the Great Hall, leaving Felicia gaping after her.

I sighed heavily, acutely aware that the entire Great Hall was now looking at us, and turned around to Scorpius, but found him gone. There was only James, who smiled smugly at me.

"Where did Scorpius go?" I asked.

James' smile widened, and he gleefully pointed at the floor. There wasn't anything. Only a mouse.

"What?" I said dully to James. The mouse stood up on its hind legs and squeaked. It had grey – green eyes and white - blonde fur. I looked slowly up at James, who still had a triumphant expression on his face. "You did not," I said, hardly daring to believe it.

The mouse squeaked again, this time even more high pitched.

"Oh, I did," said James, grinning. "I finally got back at him for everything he's ever done to me."

"You're insane," I said, as the mouse – Scorpius – now began trying to scuttle up my leg, clearly desperate to get away from James. I scooped down and picked him up, and he scuttled onto my shoulder, trying to hide behind my hair.

"Turn him back," I said to James. "I haven't had about Human Transfiguration yet, I can't help him."

"I won't," countered James.

"TURN HIM BACK!" I yelled.

"NO!" James shouted back. "Look at the coward, hiding behind his girlfriend."

Mouse – Scorpius suddenly lounged out from my shoulder, and landed on James' face, biting and scratching as much as he could. Adrasteia started laughing loudly again.

"Oh, no, stop, please," I pleaded.

"What is going on?" a stern voice suddenly said. It was Professor McGonagall.

"Oh, Professor," I said weakly. Why did she always turn up when I was in these situations? "Uh, James seems to have transfigured Scorpius into a mouse…"

McGonagall's eyes widened as she took in James, now lying on the floor, and Scorpius the Mouse, scratching his face, the two locked in combat. McGonagall pointed her want at the mouse, and he transfigured back into himself, now just lying on top of James, panting. He rolled off.

"COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE!" McGonagall cried. "Fifty points from Gryffindor! How dare you use transfiguration on a fellow student!"

James frowned, and Scorpius smirked at him. "And you, Miss Weasley, as a prefect I thought you might put a stop to this. I am most disappointed."

I opened my mouth to say something about the unfairness of this, but she swept off. James scowled and put a hand to his scratched face before stalking away.

"Honestly, Rose," Scorpius sighed. "All because you won't give up on this vegetarian nonsense."

I thought this was rather unfair too, but I didn't say anything, because Scorpius said, "Do you… do you want to meet up later tonight?"

"After hours?" I asked. That was against the rules. I couldn't do that.

"Oh, come on, Rosie," said Scorpius. "Meet me in the North Tower. I haven't seen you alone in ages."

I relented, mostly because I felt sorry for him, after being turned into a mouse and accused of attempting murder and all.

After the entire scene I had lost my appetite, so I went to visit Al in the Hospital Wing instead. His cut had naturally been healed right away, but as his hand was now also severely burned it was soaking in a bowl of something that looked slimy and green, and smelled like urine. Demetria was sitting at his bedside, poking fun at Felicia.

"She probably thought that _Helios _sounded a bit like the word 'heal'," Demetria was saying as I took a seat beside her. "Never heard anything so stupid. Oh, hello, Weasel."

"Hi," I said. "I'm really sorry, Albus."

Al shook his head. "No worries."

"James turned Scorpius into a mouse after you left," I told him.

"What?" both Albus and Demetria cried.

"McGonagall turned him back, though," I assured him.

Demetria's eyebrows shot up. "I have got to see Scorpius, and hear that story… Feel better, Albus," she said, and patted him on the shoulder before leaving the Hospital Wing.

Albus started laughing as soon as she had left, and I joined in. "What on Earth?" he said. "Is it just me, or are Demetria and Felicia really fighting over me?"

"It would appear so," I agreed.

"Fighting over _me_," he said, looking bewildered. "I mean, James I understand, but me? And that Demetria girl… I thought she didn't even know I was alive? I mean, she always acts like I'm some bug under her shoe…"

"That's how she acts with everyone, Al."

"Well, all the same… What am I supposed to do about it?"

"What do you mean?" I asked. "What can you do about it?"

"I mean… I have to beautiful girls vying for my attention. How do I choose?"

"Well," I said. "Felicia _is _your girlfriend."

"True," said Al. "True. But she doesn't have to be."

"What are you talking about?" I asked cautiously. "Are you thinking about breaking up with Felicia? I thought you loved her."

"I do," said Al. "Or I thought I did. I don't know. It's just… she's not that nice all the time, you know?"

"Neither is Demetria."

"Yeah, but at least she's up front about it."

I grinned. "Yeah, I'll give her that."

After our little chat I returned to my dormitory, in order to start making a big show of going to bed, even though I was planning on sneaking out later. I found it almost deserted, though, except for Jane. She stared at me through her huge glasses.

"Where is everyone?" I asked her.

"In the Common Room," Jane said, lowering her book. "The three of them were sitting in a corner, gossiping."

"Oh," I said. I started putting on my nightgown. "Have you… have you noticed that those three talk a lot more together than they usually do?"

"Yes," said Jane. She paused, and looked back down at her book. Then she said, in a rush, "It's because Felicia's mad at you."

I froze in putting away my clothes for the day. "I've been getting that feeling," I said. "But… why?"

Jane shrugged and adjusted her large glasses. "I don't know. None of those girls really talk to me. Felicia has just been saying a lot of mean things about you when you aren't there… I just thought that you should know."

For a moment I wondered what it must feel like to be Jane. In the first week of First Year, I had paired up quite quickly with Al and Felicia, and Eurydice and Ellen had become fast friends. Only Jane seemed to be left out. The fact that she rarely spoke up in class, or, in fact, ever spoke, hadn't exactly invited any of us to include her. Somehow Jane always managed to be forgotten or shunted to the side.

"Well," I said to Jane. "Thanks a lot for telling me about what has been going on. I really appreciate it."

"No problem," said Jane. "Felicia seems mostly angry about something with... with your boyfriend."

"My boyfriend?" I asked, perplexed. "What does Scorpius have to do with anything?"

Jane shrugged. "Maybe you should ask her yourself."

That was the second time that day that someone had suggested that. I sighed heavily. "I don't think I'll take my chances with that, to be honest. I'm not really in the mood to have my head bitten off by a ferocious blonde. Maybe I can ask Al, and he'll help me."

Jane smiled, and I vowed to be nicer to her from then on.

About half an hour later, Eurydice, Ellen and Felicia came up to the dorm, but without saying anything to Jane or me, they crawled into bed, exchanging looks and smiles, as though sharing some unbelievably funny inside joke. I felt horribly left out. I had half a mind to ask Felicia who exactly she thought she was, just throwing me aside like this. We had been best friends for over four years! How could all that just be forgotten?

But then again, I couldn't help but think, wasn't I a little to blame? I had hardly noticed that she had stopped talking to me. I had been so busy with school, Quidditch, and all my new friends, and, of course, Scorpius. Maybe I had just stopped noticing her.

I lay back irritably in my bed, thinking that if Felicia was angry that I hadn't been noticing her enough lately, she could just have done something noticeable. After waiting for all the girls to drop off to sleep, I cautiously tip - toed out of bed, slipped a dressing gown over my nightgown, and then walked out of the dormitory very quietly. Besides slipping and falling _all the way down the stairs_, nothing went wrong. I tried to keep my whimpering at the enormous pain in my behind to a minimum, so no one heard.

I couldn't help but feel a little irritated at Scorpius for wanting to meet this late at night. Of course, for Scorpius the risk was part of the excitement, but for me, I would prefer to be able to relax together without having to listen for the sound of footsteps all the time. In fact, I thought, I might mention this to him as a pretense to be invited over to his house for the Christmas holidays. Yes, that would definitely work. Demetria had told me to ask myself why he wouldn't invite me to his home, but I wasn't about to do that. That was far too blunt, and Scorpius would just think that I was begging. In fact, now that Demetria had told him off for not asking me yet, he would probably do it tonight, in order to avoid having a guilty conscience. That was probably the whole reason that Scorpius had wanted to see me!

Feeling much better after having thought all of this through, I walked with purpose, yet of course stealth, all the way to the North Tower. I had a close call at one point, where Professor Nott walked dangerously close, muttering to his pet cat, but I managed to creep into the shadows and avoid being seen.

James had once bragged that his father had an Invisibility Cloak. I hardly believed him, naturally, but I couldn't help but wish for an Invisibility Cloak just then. If I was caught out of bed and forced into a detention, I would really let Scorpius have it. Not that he cared, of course. He wasn't a prefect like I was. He didn't care about losing points for his House, either. He was far too popular among his friends to be shunned for losing a few points.

I finally reached the entrance to the North Tower. As I started to climb the steps I deliberated whether I would have the guts to ask Scorpius why he didn't want to see me over break, the guts to confront Felicia about her sudden hatred of me, and the guts to tell Demetria that her infatuation with Albus was nothing short of silly.

Sometimes I just wished that I could go back to being boring.


	4. In Which There Is Much Kissing

Chapter Four – In Which There is Much Kissing

I arrived at the top of the stairs of the North Tower only to find myself alone. It was up here that the Divination classes took place - or rather, through the trap door above my head - but as I didn't have divination, I had hardly ever been up here before. It was quite chilly, and so I wrapped my dressing gown even tighter around myself, regretting that I hadn't thought to bring a long a jumper. I waited for about five minutes, glancing repeatedly at my watch. Finally, Scorpius came. I heard him before I saw him, jumping lightly up the steps. He beamed upon seeing me.

"Hello, beautiful," he said, and then threw himself on the ground to sit next to me. Scorpius gave me an enormous hug, and then kissed me briefly. "Sorry to be late. Had a slight run - in with Peeves on the way here, I only just got away."

"I almost met Professor Nott," I told him. "I don't like meeting after hours."

Scorpius sighed. "I know breaking the rules pains you."

"Yes!"

"If you don't want to, just say so." Scorpius now had a decidedly surly expression on his face.

I rolled my eyes. "Stop acting that way, Scor," I said. "You know very well that I would rather have a detention hanging over my head than not to see you."

Scorpius brightened noticeably. "Had a nice day?"

I snorted. "What do you think? It's been miserable. First, that horrible test that I felt certain that I was going to fail, then, Demetria threatened to kill me, then I stabbed Albus in the hand with my knife, and then James turned you into a mouse, which somehow was all my fault. Oh, and Felicia's angry with me."

Scorpius raised his eyebrows. "Felicia is angry with you? I thought that you were friends."

"We are. We were. I don't know. I thought we were."

Scorpius frowned. "What is it about?"

"I don't know exactly, but - but Jane from my year said that - that it maybe had something to do with you." I worked hard to keep my words from sounding like an accusation. Scorpius only laughed.

"Maybe she's wildly in love with me, and horribly jealous of you," he suggested, flicking his bangs out of his face. "She wouldn't be the only one."

"Oh, really?" I said. "There are others?"

Scorpius shrugged noncommittally. "They're too frightened of you, my vicious darling, to say anything. They just hang around, hoping to get a bit of Malfoy... But you, Rosie, have all of this Malfoy." He finished off this flattering statement with a winning smile, but I was slightly disgruntled.

"You mean Adrasteia," I said, before I had time to think.

I could tell that Scorpius hadn't been expecting me to say that. "I - what?"

"Nothing," I said quickly.

"Adrasteia? What are you talking about? We're just friends, we-"

"I know," I interrupted. "I just - nothing. Never mind."

Scorpius frowned at me, but then wrapped an arm me, and rested his head on my shoulders. "I've missed you," he said quietly. "I don't feel like we ever get a chance to see each other anymore. At least, not without James Potter butting in and managing to mess up everything, or Demetria breathing down both our necks, wanting to know everything we say to each other. I wish we could just spend a whole lot of time alone together."

"Yeah," I agreed. "Maybe... you know, the Christmas break would be a good time to see each other..."

Scorpius stiffened. "Yeah," he said. "Maybe." He turned his dazzling grey - green eyes on mine. "You know I love you, Rosie, right? Even if I don't always act like it."

"I know," I whispered, surprised. It seemed like an odd thing to say. Very dramatic and not very Scorpius - like. Scorpius leaned in to kiss me, his soft lips resting against mine. We kissed gently for a little while, but then Scorpius wrapped both his arms around me and pulled me closer, pressing my body against his chest. I could feel every muscle, every bone in his body pressed against me. Scorpius kissed me harder, his lips pushing against my own, his tongue swooping into my mouth, giving my stomach a lurching sensation. He entangled one hand in my hair, and I put a hand to his neck, pulling him closer, even closer...

In one swift movement, Scorpius pinned me to the ground, and covered my body with his. His tongue explored my mouth. He tasted like cinnamon. Scorpius pressed his body closer to mine, and without thinking, I ground my hips towards his, causing him to make a low moaning sound from somewhere deep in his throat. It felt like an assault of my senses, and I all I could feel and think was Scorpius. His hand ran up the side of my thigh, until he gently parted my legs, causing me to gasp.

Scorpius almost flew off of me. His hair was askew, his shirt was unbuttoned and halfway off (how did that happen?), and his belt buckle has partly undone. He cleared his throat loudly. "Sorry," he muttered, staring at some spot next to my foot.

I hadn't meant to scare him off by gasping, but now the damage seemed to be done. "Don't be," I said, feeling equally embarrassed. I hoisted myself into a sitting position and tried to pat down my hair. Scorpius and I had only been seeing each other for about three months, and neither of us had broached the topic of sex yet, which made situations like this one slightly awkward.

"Maybe I should go back to bed," I suggested. "It's getting late."

"Right," said Scorpius. As I scrambled up to my feet, however, Scorpius suddenly grabbed my hand and pulled me back down. "Listen, Rose," he said, a very serious look suddenly appearing on his face. "I… I know that you've been wondering why I invited Demetria over for the holidays but not you."

I raised my eyebrows in answer. I hardly knew what to say to this.

"Demetria told me," Scorpius explained, and I felt my face flush. I didn't want to be seen as the needy and desperate girlfriend. "Look, my parents are having their annual New Year's Eve ball. I would like you to come."

I felt my jaw drop. "Really?"

"Yes, really," Scorpius said, a little impatiently.

"I thought… you didn't want me to come."

Scorpius rolled his eyes and sighed heavily. "Well, obviously I do want you to come, as I've just asked you."

Then why on Earth didn't he ask me sooner? I must have had a confused expression on my face, because Scorpius frowned quizzically at me.

"Look, Rosie, are you having a stroke, or do you just have comprehension problems?" he asked. "If you don't realize it, I pretty much just asked you out, and it's impolite to leave a bloke hanging."

I pulled myself together. "I would love to come," I said, and beamed at him.

Scorpius smiled, actually looking a bit relieved. "Great," he said. "I'm sorry I didn't ask you before – I just didn't know if it was such a good idea for you to come. Not because I'm ashamed of you or anything –" he added quickly, obviously seeing my slightly disappointed expression, "but because – well, my parents didn't have the best reaction when I wrote to them about my new girlfriend, so I didn't really know if you would be comfortable at Malfoy Manor. But, you know, we are a couple after all, and I would like to show you where I live, and to spend New Year's with you. And-" he took a deep breath – "Some of your… friends or cousins or whatever are welcome to come as well, so that we won't drown in middle aged Ministry employees with Death Eater pasts."

I left the North Tower feeling like the biggest jerk in the world. Scorpius had risked his parents' disapproval in inviting me – and my friends – to a ball at Malfoy Manor. I, in the meantime, couldn't even be bothered to write to my parents and inform them that I was in a relationship.

I really wasn't embarrassed about Scorpius being my boyfriend; I just didn't know how to handle my parents and my whole family knowing. I could just see my dad's eyes bulging in the same way as James'… _How _would I ever get them to accept Scorpius?

It was a little ironic that I was the Gryffindor in the relationship, as I was apparently too much of a chicken to even inform my parents about it. But, really, Scorpius wasn't just any boy. He was the son of my parents' archenemy – would they even let me to go the New Years' Eve ball?

As I wandered through the dark back to my dorm, only one thought kept going through my head: how was I ever going to tell my parents about Scorpius? And more importantly, would Scorpius ever forgive me, if he found out that I hadn't told them?


	5. In Which Rose Has A Tough Night

Chapter Five: In Which James Breaks The Law

I didn't feel like I could back to my dorm. With all the worries weighing on my mind I probably wouldn't be able to sleep anyway. Instead I decided to do something rather unlike myself, and sneak around the castle in hopes of finding some sort of peace and quiet. Besides, going back to my dormitory would mean having to see Felicia, Eurydice and Ellen laying there with smug smiles on their faces while dreaming about how much they hated me.

It felt weird not to be friends with Felicia anymore. We had been joined at the hip for over four years, and to suddenly be without her – well, it was odd. Then again, a lot of things had been changing lately.

I had aimlessly wandered down several flights of stairs to the dark dungeons. I had never been in the Slytherin Common Room, but I knew that it had to be close by. I was just passing by an unused Potions classroom, when I heard the unmistakable sound of someone whispering a spell. What would anyone be doing in a Potions classroom in the middle of the night?

I decided to take a look, so I crept towards the door and put my ear against it. Inside, someone – a boy, by the sound of it – was muttering to himself. My heart had leaped into my throat – was this someone I knew? The voice sounded vaguely familiar, but it was too low to tell. Perhaps this was a dark wizard?

I was leaning with my entire body weight against the door, hoping to be able to reveal this person's identity, when the door flew open, sending me crashing through it and ending in a heap on the floor. Apparently, the door had _not _been locked.

"_Rose?"_ someone cried incredulously.

I raised my aching head off the ground only to see my eldest cousin staring at me with wide eyes.

"_James_?" I said, slowly getting to my feet. "What are you doing here?"

James quickly darted a step to the left, effectively covering the cauldron behind him. "Nothing," he said, a little too fast.

I narrowed my eyes at him. Something was going on, and I had a feeling that it most certainly wasn't right.

"Why are you brewing a potion at…." I checked my watch, "one O' clock in the morning?"

James shifted his feet. "Extra credit for Potions?" he offered meekly.

"But you don't have N.E.W.T level Potions," I said. "You haven't even had a Potions lesson since Fifth Year!"

James seemed to be at loss as to what to say to this. "Let me see what's in the cauldron," I demanded, trying to step around James.

"No," James quickly countered, and he threw out an arm to keep me back.

"Yes!" I yelled at him, trying to go around him from his right side instead.

"No," he said, quickly grabbing me around my middle and pushing me back.

"Why won't you show me?" I asked him.

"I don't want to," James replied, rather childishly.

"Oh, get out of my way," I said, and shoved my elbow into his ribcage, effectively pushing him aside. I peered into the cauldron. The potion was bright green and seemed to have a rather thick substance. It smelled a bit like a mixture between lemon and something very sugary.

"James, what is this?" I asked him. "I've never seen this potion before."

James cleared his throat loudly and looked at the ground, staring at his shoes.

"Oh, tell me already!" I snapped. "I'm thrilled you're doing something slightly academic with your free time, really. If Slughorn had known how much you like Potions, he might not have given you a P. Tell me!"

"It's a mind – enhancing potion," James told his feet. "It's called the Brainpower Potion. You might not know it, but-"

Oh, yes, I did know it.

"_The Brainpower Potion?"_ I screeched at him. "James, that is _illegal!_ You're not allowed to brew it _or _take it! You could get expelled from school! Fifteen students were disqualified from the N.E.W.T.'s last year, because they took it before a test! I know that school isn't your strongest point, but-"

"I'm not taking it, Rosie, I swear!" James yelled, his eyes already bulging a bit, his face growing purple. "I'm selling it!"

"That's a great idea, James!" I shouted. "I'm so proud that my cousin is now a _drug – dealer_!"

"At least I'm not a traitor to my family!" he roared, pointing his finger in my face. "At least I'm not dating the _enemy_!"

"Really, James?" I cried. "Really? You want to compare my dating a Slytherin with brewing illegal drugs in the middle of the night? _Really_?"

"Not just any Slytherin!" James yelled. "_THE ENEMY!"_

"What enemy?" I cried. "Whose enemy is he exactly?"

"OUR enemy," James said, jabbing a finger at me and then himself. "He is not _only _Captain of our rival Quidditch team, he is _also _a Malfoy, and the Malfoy family is our family's arch nemesis, _and, _in case you've forgotten, he's the son of a DEATH EATER!" He roared the last bit in my face.

"Who cares," I snapped. "He's not a Death Eater himself, and he never will be. I'm not ashamed of Scorpius, I'm ashamed of you!"

"Are you sure about that, Rosie?" James asked, suddenly quieter. "You've been keeping him a secret for an awfully long time. Maybe it's about time someone told your dad."

Ice cold fear sliced through my stomach.

"Listen, James," I said. "We're going home for the holidays the day after tomorrow and when we do, I'll keep this drug brewing thing a secret, if you keep my relationship a secret from my parents."

James opened his mouth to answer when we suddenly both turned around to face the open door. Someone was coming through the corridor, and with all the shouting that we had been doing, that person was bound to find us any second.

"This way," James whispered to me, and grabbing my hand, he shoved me through a side door. We appeared in a different corridor in the dungeons. James slipped back into the classroom, probably to salvage his precious Brainpower Potion.

I, in the meantime, had no idea where I was. I knew the castle by heart, but this corridor was pitch black. No lights were turned on at all, and I didn't dare use my wand for light, in case I was spotted. The footsteps were gone, so I counted on being safe. I began to tiptoe along the corridor, hoping to find a staircase to get me out of the dungeons. I had to grope along the walls to find my way.

Suddenly, though, my hand met something very warm and _human. _I was touching someone's face. My heart seemed to stop for a moment.

"Who is it?" whispered the human.

"Ophi?" I asked.

He breathed a sigh of relief. "Rose," he said. "Thank God. For a moment I thought you might be a teacher."

"Me too," I said. "What are you doing out of bed?"

"Couldn't sleep," he answered. "What are you doing down _here_?"

"Long story," I said. "Listen, do you know the nearest way up to Gryffindor Tower from here?"

"Sure," Ophi said in the dark. "You're going the wrong way, turn around, and I'll take you to a staircase."

"Thanks," I said, and we proceeded to creep along the wall in the other direction.

"So," said Ophi in a hushed tone, after having walked for a while in silence. "How did it go for you on the Defense Against the Dark Arts test?"

I sighed. "I don't know," I said. "I have a really bad feeling about it at any rate."

"I should hope you did well for yours and Scorpius' sakes," said Ophi. "Here, step up, there's a staircase here. Do you think it's safe to light our wands now? I haven't seen anyone all night. _Lumos._"

He turned around and cast the light on my face, and frowned at my expression. "What?" he asked nervously.

"What do you mean, for mine and Scorpius' sakes?" I asked, as we began to walk up the stairs.

"Because he wrote the same answers as you," said Ophia, as though it was a matter of fact.

"_What did you say_?" I hissed.

Ophi's jaw dropped. "Oh. Never mind." He began running up the stairs, taking the steps two at a time.

"Wait, Ophi," I cried. I took out my wand quickly. "_Lumos_," I muttered, and I raced after him. "Ophi! Don't run away from me!"

"I'm not running, I'm speed – walking!" Ophi answered, as he raced around a corner and up another flight of stairs.

"Ophiuchus Nott!" I bellowed, throwing caution to the wind, apparently not giving a damn whether or not I, a Gryffindor Prefect, would be caught out of bed. "You get back here! How do you know whether or not Scorpius and I wrote the same answers?"

"No idea!" Ophi called over his shoulder. "Don't read anything into it. I wasn't making sense!"

"Well, I can't help but read anything into it, when you're running away from me! And I'm in much better shape than you, so you might as well drop it!"

Ophi stopped up suddenly, apparently seeing sense. He seemed to be gasping for breath. He leant forward and rested his hands on his knees.

"Well?" I said, once I finally caught up to him. "What did you mean by that comment?"

Ophi seemed to fixate on a point next to my head. "Scorpius copied your answers on the test." I gasped loudly. "I'm sorry," said Ophi, sounding miserable. "I thought you knew. I thought the two of you maybe had some kind of deal."

"No, we didn't," I said. "I would never have allowed that! But _why_? Scorpius is so smart."

Ophi shrugged. "I just think he hadn't had the time to study. His Quidditch duties are taking up a lot of his time, you know?"

"I can't believe that he would betray my trust that way," I said, still feeling confused.

"I'm sorry," Ophi offered up lamely.

"And what, did he just brag about it to you?" I said, feeling angry with Ophi for no reason at all. "Did you sit laughing at my expense? Did he share his triumph with all of Slytherin?"

"No," said Ophi, looking horrified. "No, it was just something he mentioned to me. I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing," I snapped. "I know where I am now. I can find the rest of the way by myself. Goodnight."

I left a dazed Ophi behind as I marched the rest of the way up to Gryffindor Tower. Why would Scorpius cheat off of me on a test? How could he just betray me like that? He could have asked for my help instead.Or, even better, he could just have studied for the stupid test and then he wouldn't have had to cheat!

I stormed into my dorm and flipped down on my bed. My heart was hammering in my chest, and I definitely knew that I wasn't going to get any sleep that night. My mind couldn't stop racing, thinking about Scorpius' cheating and James' drugs. _Why _were all the guys in my life ganging up on me to make my days as miserable as possible?

"Wow, could you _be _any louder?" someone said to my right. I turned my head. Felicia was laying there, her head propped up on her hand. "You could have woken all of Gryffindor."

"Sorry," I huffed.

"It's a good thing none of the teachers know that a Prefect is wandering around at night," she said.

I rolled my eyes. My day – not to mention my night – had been tough enough already. I was not in the mood for this.

"Felicia, when did you stop being a decent person and just get downright tiresome to be around?" I asked. "What is your problem?"

Felicia quickly sat up in bed. "Um, _you_," she said, her tone particularly nasty.

"Me?" I asked, baffled.

"Yeah, you," said Felicia. "Because all of a sudden, just because you have this new, handsome boyfriend, you think that you're better than the rest of us."

"That's not true," I countered, but Felicia didn't seem to be listening to me.

"All of a sudden, you can't be bothered to hang out with your own House, or even talk to any of your old friends. You can only hang out with those from Slytherin. You know what? Why don't you go ask the Sorting Hat if you can switch Houses? I know you want to, and I sure as hell wouldn't mind not seeing you every day."

I stared at her for a moment, stunned. "But Felicia," I said, trying to string a coherent sentence together without bursting into tears. It was important that I say something smart, and not just become a blubbering mess. "You stopped talking to me as well. It kind of seems like you have some new friends that you prefer." I gestured towards the sleeping forms of Eurydice and Ellen. "It's not like you've been trying to talk to me all that much."

"No," said Felicia. "You cut me out of your life a long time before I stopped talking to you."

"But you always seemed to want to be alone with Al," I said, feeling helpless.

Felicia rolled her eyes. "Bad excuses, Rose. You just think that you're too good for us, all of a sudden. Don't pretend you don't know it."

With those words, Felicia fell back into her bed and closed the bed hangings so that I couldn't see her, leaving me feeling shocked, hurt, and so, _so _confused.

A/N: Thanks so much for reading and don't forget to leave a review! Tell me what you liked, what you didn't like and fun suggestions for future chapters. Your reviews keep me writing. Thanks!


	6. In Which Everyone Gets Trapped

Chapter Six: In Which Everyone Gets Trapped

I finally fell asleep at about five in the morning. When the girls from my dorm got up about two and a half hours later, I decided not to join them. I didn't have the strength to get out of bed and face Felicia. And not only Felicia, but also James and Scorpius. I decided to not even open my eyes.

Before they left, I heard Jane stop by my bed and say softly, "Rose? Don't you want to go down to breakfast?" But I pretended not to hear her, and eventually all four of them left. I promptly fell asleep again.

The second time I woke up was because something was tickling my neck. Groggily, I reached up and tried to swat it away.

"Oh, good, you're alive," someone said. The shock caused my eyes to fly open. Demetria was sitting on my bed, smiling down at me with her pointed teeth, and her long hair was touching my neck.

"What're you doing here?" I mumbled.

"Al let me in," she said. "We began to get worried when you didn't show up for lunch. It just wasn't the same when Scorpius and I couldn't watch your half – hearted attempts to sneak tiny pieces of meat in secret."

I groaned and pulled a pillow over my head, trying to block out her loud voice. "I care about animals," I told her, behind the pillow. "I never eat meat."

"Yes, and I'm Medusa," said Demetria.

"I wouldn't be surprised if you _were _Medusa," I grumbled, and removed the pillow once again. "What time is it?"

"Just after two," Demetria said. Her eyes perused my face skeptically. "Well. You're not paler than usual, you seem to have just as many spots on your face as always, and you understand human speech. Why are you in bed?"

"They're called freckles," I informed her. "And I'm in bed because I hate my life. I'm never getting out."

Demetria raised one delicately plucked eyebrow. "I thought that you were going home for the holidays tomorrow?"

"Oh, yeah," I realized. "Well, I might get out of bed for that, but once I get home, I'm going right back to sleep."

"And _why _do you hate your life?" asked Demetria. "I'm not sure that I care, but apparently you insist on getting bedsores and becoming obese and living a life in seclusion, so I suppose you need my help."

I hope Demetria never becomes one of those Muggle therapists that Mum is always trying to get Hugo to see for his dinosaur addiction (he's thirteen; he should be over it by now!). Demetria really isn't the best at empathy.

I decided to ignore her last comment and to answer her question instead. "Because my oldest cousin is intent on breaking the law, my former best friend hates me and my boyfriend cheated off of me on a test. So, yeah, I'm staying in bed."

Demetria's eyes widened. "James Potter is doing something illegal? What's he doing?"

I rolled my eyes. "Really, that's what you care about? I'm not supposed to say, anyway."

"Okay, so Scorpius cheated off of you on a test," Demetria said. "What did he say when you asked him about it?"

"I haven't."

Demetria threw her hands up in the air and glared at me. "Well, why not? How do you even know it's true?"

"Ophi told me."

Demetria's hands flopped down again. "Oh. Well, he couldn't tell a lie to save his life. Why that little wimp is in Slytherin I'll never know. Still, you're going home tomorrow. Don't you think that you should talk to Scorpius about it? Maybe you misunderstood."

"So you don't know anything about it?" I asked. "I thought maybe all of Slytherin was in on it."

"Oh, sweetheart," said Demetria, shaking her head. "We are not nearly as cunning and secretive as you think."

"Alright, I'll ask him about it," I said, sitting up in bed.

"By the way," Demetria said, giving me a sly glance through her lashes. "I've decided to tell him."

"Tell Scorpius what?" I asked, feeling ridiculously confused. "That I know about the test? I thought I was going to-"

"Oh, stop being so self- absorbed!" Demetria exclaimed. "I said tell _him._" She ended this sentence with a very significant glare at me.

I stared at her for a few seconds before realization dawned on me. "_Oooh._ You mean, tell Al that you're-"

Demetria clamped a hand over my mouth. "What did I tell you?" she hissed.

"There's no one here!" I tried to say against her hand. She removed it from my face in disgust, wiping my spit off on my pillow.

"You never know," she told me darkly. "And believe me, when I said that I would kill you, I meant that I will. Kill. You. If you ever mention -" her eyes narrowed and she cast a glance around, "- _you know_."

"Alright, alright, I get it," I said, beginning to clamber out of bed. Being friends with Demetria, I suppose that you eventually get used to the insults and the death threats. "I'll remember not to mention your crush on my cousin unless I want to die a premature death."

"_What is your problem?" _Demetria shrieked at me.

Oops.

"I swear," I told her, "I will never say it again. I promise."

Demetria continued to glare at me. She pulled her upper lip back a little, revealing her creepily sharp and vampire – like teeth.

"I don't want to die, please?" I squeaked.

Demetria shrugged. "I'll let this time slide by. Next time though…"

Leaving that warning hanging in the air, Demetria suddenly smiled, which was somehow even more disturbing. "Well then. Let's go find Scorpius, shall we?"

After getting dressed, I allowed Demetria to pull me down the stairs to the dungeons. "I'm sure he's here somewhere," she told me. "Last time I saw him, he was still packing his stuff for tomorrow."

Just as the words were out of the mouth, we turned a corner and saw Scorpius and Ophi walking straight towards us, their heads bent in conversation. The stopped suddenly as they saw us coming. Scorpius frowned at me, and locked mock – angry.

"Did you hear anything?" he asked me. "We were just discussing Quidditch tactics. We wouldn't want you to steal them."

I rolled my eyes. Right then, I was far too annoyed with Scorpius to find any of his comments amusing. "Trust me, Malfoy," I spat at him, "our tactics are way too sophisticated for your little slimy brains to understand. We would rather steal _Hufflepuff's _tactics than yours."

Scorpius raised an eyebrow. "Ouch," he said simply, clearly not taking my snappish remarks very insulting. Ophi's eyes darted nervously between the two of us. Obviously he hadn't told Scorpius about our little rendezvous the previous night.

"Listen, Scorpius," said Demetria. "We need to talk to you."

Her use of "we" took me aback a little – it was my fight with Scorpius, after all, not hers. But having Demetria on your side in an argument is always a plus, so I decided not to disagree.

"We can go in here," Scorpius said, and opened a door next to him. I suddenly realized that it was the unused Potions classroom which James and I had visited the night before. Silently, Demetria, Ophi and I followed Scorpius into the classroom. The lemony smell from James' potion still lingered, and I decided not to inhale too deeply, in case I could get high off of any residue fumes. The door slammed with a resounding click behind us. Immediately, Ophi turned around and tried the doorknob. "It's locked," he told us.

"Oh, honestly," snapped Demetria. "Are you a wizard or not? _Alohamora._"

Nothing happened though, which caused Demetria to frown and grab the doorknob again. "This lock has been implemented recently," she said, examining it. "Something's wrong with it. It looks like we're locked in."

Scorpius gave a small snort of laughter. Ophi, meanwhile, had grown very pale. "_Locked in_?" he shrieked, in a very girly voice. "Are you serious?"

"Well," began Demetria, but she stopped as Ophi took hold of the doorknob and started pulling and pushing at it.

"This is my _nightmare_!" he cried, suddenly very unreserved, and not very Ophi – like at all. "This is my –" Ophi slowly backed away from the door, holding the doorknob in his hand, staring at it with wide eyes. "Oh, Merlin," he whispered. "Oh, Merlin we're trapped."

I had to stifle a giggle at the look on Ophi's face. Scorpius wasn't quite as polite, and began to laugh outright, which reminded me of the fact that we were actually there to talk to him about something.

"Scorpius, there's something I need to ask you," I told him. Scorpius seemed to attempt to pull himself together.

"Of course, Rosie," he said, still looking at Ophi, who was now desperately trying to fit the doorknob into the door again. "What is it?"

"We want to know why you cheated off of Rosie on the Defense Against the Dark Arts test," Demetria said, not one to beat around the bush.

"What?" asked Scorpius, shocked. Then, "Honestly, Demetria, let Rose speak." He turned and looked at me, a very innocent expression on his face.

"I want to know why you cheated off of my on the Defense Against the Dark Arts test," I said.

"Like I said!" cried Demetria, throwing her hands into the air.

"Demetria, let her talk!" growled Scorpius.

"Like I said," I echoed lamely. "Why did you cheat?"

"Did you guys know that I am very claustrophobic?" Ophi interjected.

"We do now," snarled Demetria.

"I start hyperventilating when I'm entrapped in little spaces," Ophi said. "Am I sweating? Do I look pale? I feel like I would look pale. Oh, Merlin. You know, I can't be in small tunnels, for example."

"This is hardly what I would call a small tunnel," said Scorpius. "This classroom is bigger than our dormitory!"

"Why did you cheat?" I asked again.

"Yes, why?" resounded Demetria.

Scorpius frowned. "I'll admit that I cheated. How did you find out?"

"This genius over here decided to tell your girlfriend," said Demetria, gesturing towards Ophi, who was pulling his shirt over his face and breathing into it. "He seemed to think that you and Rose would have made some sort of deal."

"Which we _didn't_," I said.

Scorpius looked rather shy. He wrung his hands. "Well, you know how it is, Rosie, I had Quidditch…"

"I had Quidditch!" I exclaimed. "And yet, I found the time to study for a very important test. You know that the Professor might think that _I _cheated off of _you_?"

"If he thinks that, I'll set him straight," Scorpius cried. "But, listen, I hadn't studied, and I had forgotten all about the stupid test, until he started telling us how important it was. I panicked, so I copied a couple of answers. I didn't cheat during the entire test."

"I can't breathe!" gasped Ophi from the door. "I can't breathe! How do we get Madame Pomfrey down here?"

"_Silencio!"_ Demetria shouted, pointing her wand at Ophi, who opened and closed his mouth rather like a fish before grasping at his throat and making choking noises, as though trying to coax out his voice.

"That's hardly going to help his claustrophobia," I pointed out.

"I don't give a rat's ass about his so called claus – whatever," Demetria snapped. "I do care about his whiny little voice giving me a headache."

"I can't believe that you would completely disrespect me like that," I said, turning back to Scorpius.

"Honestly, Rosie, take it as a compliment!" Scorpius said, sounding exasperated. "Imitation is the truest form of flattery. Isn't that the saying?"

I decided to ignore this, though he did sort of have a point. I sighed. "Listen, Scorpius, an apology would be sufficient."

Scorpius huffed. "Fine. I'm sorry that I didn't have the time to study for the test and had to resort to desperate measures."

"That's hardly an apology," I said.

"I'm sorry that you're self – esteem is so low that you can't accept a compliment when you get one," Scorpius said, sounding haughtier than ever.

"_Scorpius_!" barked Demetria.

"I'm sorry that the professor didn't give proper warning for the test?" Scorpius tried again, sounding like he was asking a question.

I was about to retort that this was hardly what I meant by a proper apology, when the door suddenly burst open. It was James. His eyes widened to their usual bulging state once he saw that I was in the room with three Slytherins, one of which was desperately trying to tell James to let him out in sign language; one of which looked annoyed and exasperated and one of which looked particularly murderous and was showing off her pointed teeth.

"What's going on here?" James roared. "What are you doing to Rosie? And what's wrong with you?" he asked Ophi, who was frantically trying to crawl between James' legs to get out the door.

"He's claustrophobic," I explained. "And I'm fine, James."

James appeared to seriously doubt this. "How can you be fine surrounded by these slimy little monsters? How have they hurt you? Have any of them touched you?"

"Oh, I've _touched _her," said Scorpius slyly, in an obvious attempt to provoke my cousin. It worked.

James' eyes began bulging to the point where I thought that they just might fall out of his head. His face grew steadily redder and redder with little purple blotches appearing on his forehead. I wondered if he might one day give himself a stroke.

"Scorpius, honestly," I hissed. Scorpius, however, didn't seem to be listening to me, as he was too busy snickering at James. Ophi finally made his escape between James' legs and ran for it. I could hear him gasping loudly for breath all the way down the corridor.

"What are you doing here, Potter?" snarled Demetria. "We're having a private conversation, in case you don't have the brains to notice."

James suddenly looked very shifty and stared at his feet. "I'm here to… collect something of mine," he said.

Oh, Merlin. Of course he would have to come back to get his illegal potion. I rolled my eyes. "Go on, you guys," I told Demetria and Scorpius. "I'll take care of this."

Demetria looked mildly curious and Scorpius appeared to be rather confused as I waved them out of the room. Scorpius looked like he was trying to say something when Demetria yanked him out of the door.

"Look, Rosie," James said, bending down and opening a cupboard, "I left something here last night. I need you to take it for me."

"What? No, I will not take your stupid potion for you!" I exclaimed. "What are you thinking?"

James took a small bottle out the cupboard and frowned at me. "I am thinking, Rosie, that my little cousin, whom I would sacrifice my own life to protect – especially from Slytherins – might be so kind as to do one little favor for me. Or she might lose her spot on the Quidditch team for the game against Ravenclaw in February."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, fine, James, just give me the stupid potion," I said, and held out my hand.

James gleefully dropped the potion in my hand. "Thanks Rosie!" he said, beaming at me. "I won't forget this!"

Oh, but how I wish that I could.

**A/N: Thanks for reading! PLEASE remember to review, everyone! Even if it's just one line, it really means the world to me. Your reviews keep me writing, and every one of them makes me SO happy! So – REVIEW! **


	7. In Which Scorpius Sneaks In

Chapter Seven: In Which Scorpius Sneaks In

The next day found me, Scorpius, Demetria, Jane, Al and Ophi sharing a compartment on the way home for the holidays. A stony silence existed between Scorpius and I, as he had yet to formulate a proper apology. Felicia was notably absent from our compartment, as she was now sharing with Ellen and Eurydice, her two new best friends. Demetria was sneaking glances towards Al, occasionally even venturing a tiny, sharp smile. If I were Al, I would have run back to Felicia in fear. Al, however, being blind, obviously did not notice Demetria staring at him. I guess, however, that he _felt _her preference for him, as he had clearly chosen not to sit with Felicia.

Ophi, meanwhile, was very quiet, probably being embarrassed over his weird claustrophobic fit the night before. Jane was immersed in another romance novel, and Scorpius was glaring moodily out the window.

Demetria kept shooting me significant glances as well. "_What_?" I finally mouthed at her.

She narrowed her eyes at me, and then swiveled her eyes towards Al. I almost rolled my own eyes in response. Instead, I threw my hands into the air, as though to say, "What am I supposed to do about that?"

Demetria sighed heavily, reached into her bag for a quill and parchment, and wrote a note to me.

_**To my lovely idiot friend who cannot get a hint when it dances naked in front of her face,**_

_**I want you to hook me up with Albus! Something useful to do over the holidays, you know?**_

_**- Your much smarter (and gorgeous) friend, D. **_

_**PS: Make up with Scorpius already! This awkward silence is driving me insane. **_

Oh, for goodness' sake. Why is it that I always end up in these situations? Just a few months ago, Al had been begging me to set him up with Felicia, Felicia had been begging me to set her up with James, and Eurydice had been begging me to set me up with Scorpius (luckily, though, I ended up with him!). It made my head spin just thinking about it.

I shrugged helplessly at Demetria, which only seemed to infuriate her. She frowned at me (her face rather resembling a thundercloud) and tapped impatiently on the parchment. I noticed that both Scorpius and Ophi were watching us with interest now, and even Jane was peeking out from her book with wide, bespectacled eyes.

_**D – **_

_**I don't know. He has a girlfriend, remember? And besides, I don't know if you guys would be the best couple. He's a sensitive guy.**_

_**- R**_

I discreetly shoved the parchment back into Demetria's hand, and tried to look innocently out of the window. Scorpius grinned at me, and I smiled back before remembering that I was mad at him. Instead, I tried to imitate Demetria's thundercloud frown, which only caused Scorpius to huff and then glare at me, with a much more intimidating facial expression than I ever could manage.

"Really, Rosie?" he burst out, causing Ophi to jump. "What am I supposed to say to you?"

"You could just apologize?" I offered in a very small voice.

Scorpius rolled his eyes and got to his feet and left the compartment, slamming the door shut behind him.

"What's wrong with him?" he asked, turning to Demetria, but she only threw the parchment back at me.

"Really, Rosie?" she shrieked. "Really, you don't think I'm _sensitive _enough?"

"Well," I began, not knowing how to answer this question, which I really felt answered itself.

Demetria let out a roar of frustration, and threw the remainder of her ink bottle in my face, leaving my face completely drenched in black ink.

"Demetria!" I cried, but she wasn't listening. Demetria got to her feet and slammed the compartment door behind her just like Scorpius did.

I turned awkwardly back to the others, only to see Ophi and Jane staring at me. "I'm going to find Demetria," said Al, and got to his feet.

"Why?" I asked. "Shouldn't you find Felicia instead?"

Al completely ignored my question and just felt his way out of the compartment. Great. So apparently all my friends seemed to hate me at the moment. I didn't even really feel that I personally had done anything to deserve this sudden hatred. Perhaps they would come around, all of them. I certainly hoped so.

I had been home for several days and had not heard a word from either Scorpius or Demetria. It seemed like they were both pretending that I didn't exist anymore. I had never before felt so depressed. It felt as though I had lost all contact with the two people I had spent the most time with for the past few months.

On Christmas Eve, I was the world's saddest person. My Mum kept looking at me with this concerned, motherly expression on her face, but I couldn't tell her what was wrong. After keeping my relationship with Scorpius a secret for several months, I didn't feel that I could bring him up by saying, "You want to know why I'm miserable? It has to do with my secret boyfriend that I haven't told you about…" Yeah. That wouldn't be the best way to introduce her to Scorpius.

As I walked up the stairs to go to bed, my Mum patted me on the back. "Try to get some rest before tomorrow, Sweetheart," she told me. "Your Grandma Weasley would be so upset if you were sad on Christmas day. And all your cousins will be there!"

I didn't mention that I basically saw all my cousins every single day at school. "You're right, Mum," I said, giving her my "good – daughter" smile. "I've just been so stressed out about O.W.L's."

"As long as you're studying hard and using your smart mind, Rosie, nothing can go wrong," said my Mum.

Lying in bed that night, I considered writing a letter to Scorpius. Would that be the right thing to do? Should I apologize for being so angry with him? Had I, perhaps, overreacted? I sighed heavily and rolled over on my side. I could tell that I wouldn't be getting all that much sleep that night.

Suddenly, though, I sat bolt – right up in bed. I was certain that I had just heard a tapping noise on my window. Could it be an owl? Or perhaps just some hail?

The tapping noise repeated itself. Definitely not hail. This tapping was just three successive taps. I tentatively got to my feet and crept over to my window and peered out before jumping back. A face was staring back at me. I took another look. It was Scorpius! He was floating on his broomstick right outside my window. I quickly opened my window.

"Hello beautiful," Scorpius said breezily before he elegantly jumped through my window, pulling his broomstick with him. He lightly kissed my lips. He was real! He was really here! Why?

"What are you doing here?" I exclaimed in a whisper, as Scorpius' arms engulfed me in a hug. He held each of my arms and pushed me back so that he could look into my face. "I came to apologize," he said. "I'm really sorry that I cheated off of your test, Rosie. I shouldn't have done it and it was disrespectful." He seemed so serious I almost laughed out loud.

"Yeah, sure, whatever, you're forgiven," I said, before wrapping my arms around him again. "How did you get here?"

"I flew," Scorpius answered, gesturing towards his broom, now leaning up against my wall. "I didn't know which room was yours, though, so I had to check almost every window in the house. You know that your brother is playing with toy dinosaurs?"

"I'm so happy that you're here," I breathed, leaning my head against his shoulder.

"So," Scorpius said, finally extricating himself from me. "This is your room."

Up till that point I hadn't had time to feel embarrassed about my room, but I definitely did then. Clothes and books were strewn over the floor, my walls were a very girly lilac, and several teddy bears dotted my bed. On my dresser was a rather embarrassing (now that I really thought about it) picture of Al and I before boarding the Hogwarts Express for the first time.

"Never mind that," I said, hastily trying to attract Scorpius' attention away from all the humiliatingly childish items in my room. Scorpius, however, walked straight over to my dresser, examining the glass figurines of ballerinas that I had collected as a girl, and then, of course, the picture of Al and I as eleven year olds.

"I remember that day," Scorpius said, as eleven – year – old Rose waved at him. "That was the first time I ever saw you."

"Yeah, and we met a few hours later at the Sorting," I said. "You stepped on my foot and I told you off."

Scorpius laughs. "That's right."

I awkwardly sit down on my bed. "That was a while ago," I said. "A lot has changed since then."

"I'll say," agreed Scorpius and grinned at me. Then he pulled something square out of his pocket and tossed it to me. "Christmas present," he said, and flopped down on the bed beside me. It made me oddly pleased that he seemed so at home in my bedroom. I turned over the small box in my hands.

"I have something for you, too," I said, and pulled the envelope out from under my bed. "You go ahead and open it first."

Scorpius took the envelope, raised his eyebrows at me, and ripped it open. Two tickets to the Quidditch match between Puddlemere United and the Chudley Cannons fell out. Our two favorite teams, competing against each other. Scorpius' face split into a smile.

"Merlin, Rose, this is great!" he said. "I can't wait to see your team be beaten into the dust by mine."

"Likewise," I told him. Scorpius pulled me into a soft kiss, and then gestured towards the small box in my lap. I carefully opened it, revealing a small silver chain with an oval - shaped silver pendant, carved with tiny roses. "Oh, Scorpius," I whispered. It was the most beautiful piece of jewelry I had ever owned.

"Open it," Scorpius told me.

I found the clasp and the locket sprang open. Inside were photographs of both me and Scorpius. Scorpius in the picture winked at me and I laughed. This was probably the most romantic and beautiful gift I had ever received. Nothing would ever be able to measure with this.

"I don't know what to say," I said. "Thank you."

"That's enough," Scorpius breathed, and then leaned in to kiss me. The locket slipped from my fingers back into the box as Scorpius pushed me back against the bed, covering my mouth with his in a wet, scorching kiss. His hot tongue pushed my lips apart and slipped into my mouth, and his hands wandered from my waist to my neck and back again, caressing my sides. My hands found their way into his hair, and I knotted my fingers into his white – blonde strands. Scorpius' hard, muscular body pressed against mine, our shapes and forms molding perfectly into each other. He rolled over on his side and pressed me closer to him. Our legs intertwined and Scorpius wrapped both of his arms around my back. I seemed to be possessed by some other being as I pushed myself closer to him, and allowed my hands to push up his shirt and roam across his firm stomach. He groaned into my mouth and pulled me on top of him. In one quick movement, Scorpius managed to pull my shirt over my head. We stopped then, for a moment, as Scorpius stared at me, laying there on top of him with my chest bare. He pulled me back down for another kiss, much more softly this time, his hands caressing my face gently before travelling down to cup my breasts, and I gasped into his mouth. I felt a sudden urge to kiss him harder, and pressed my lips firmly unto his. Scorpius' one hand travelled down to stroke my thigh, his fingers wandering to my inner thigh, and back to my back.

The loud noise of a door slamming in the kitchen made us wrench apart. For a second the two of us were completely still. When nothing else happened, I whispered, "Probably just my dad."

I leaned back in for more kissing, but Scorpius gently stopped me with a hand on my shoulder. "I forgot that your family was still here."

I frowned. "You're going home?"

"Of course not," Scorpius grinned at me. "But I don't really feel comfortable doing… this with your dad wandering around the kitchen downstairs."

I was about to protest when Scorpius handed me my shirt back and crawled under the covers. I reluctantly pulled it back on and scowled at him. He patted the spot next to him and I snuggled up to him. Scorpius wrapped an arm around me and yawned into my ear. "Some other time," he whispered, and my stomach lurched with excitement, nerves and anticipation.

I woke up the next morning because of the noise coming out of the kitchen. Mum seemed to be making breakfast and scolding Dad while the radio played in the background. In the room next to mine, Hugo was banging around; loudly taking things out of his trunk and throwing them back in.

I turned my head slightly to see Scorpius curled up against me. His hair was tussled, his mouth was slightly open, and he was snoring softly. Some of my red hair was draped across his pale face. I didn't want to wake him, but it sounded like one of my parents would be coming upstairs to make sure that I was getting up any minute now.

I nudged him gently. "Scorpius," I whispered. No response. I tried nudging him again, but once more he was too deeply asleep to hear me. I shook him a little. "Scorpius!" I said, a little louder.

He only moaned and turned over, so that he was lying with his back to me.

"Scorpius, you have to get up, my parents-"

He mumbled something incoherent in response and pulled a pillow over his head.

I sighed. I didn't know how I was going to get him out of my room before my parents noticed. I put my face as closely to his ear as possible and blew. Scorpius jumped up, looking confused. He saw me and scowled.

"A happy Christmas to you, too," he muttered.

"I'm sorry," I said. "But my family is up, I don't know how long it will take for them to get up here…"

"Yeah, yeah," said Scorpius and yawned hugely. "I'll get out of here in a second."

"_Scorpius_," I hissed. "I don't think that my parents would appreciate seeing you here!"

"Oh, relax, I have to meet them sometime," said Scorpius.

My stomach clenched with guilt. How could I tell him that my parents had no idea that he was my boyfriend? Deciding that avoiding the situation altogether was the best way to go, I urged him to get up.

"Alright, alright," said Scorpius, and he sleepily rolled out of my bed. He stretched and yawned as he meandered his way around my room, looking for his things. He covered his face with his hands, apparently rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, and walked straight into my dresser, banging it against the wall and causing several of my glass ballerina figurines to crash to the floor.

"Oops," said Scorpius guiltily. "Merlin, my foot hurts."

"Now you've done it," I snapped, as I heard my dad yell, "Rosie, are you okay?"

"Crap!" I exclaimed. "Crap, crap, crap, Scorpius you have to go!"

Scorpius, however, was hopping around in my room on one leg, clutching his left foot in both hands. "Rosie, I think I broke a toe," he moaned.

My dad was walking up the stairs, his footsteps coming ever closer.

"Scorpius, my dad is coming, you have to go!" I hissed at him, trying to push him towards the window.

"Ow, Rose, _my toe_," Scorpius cried, shoving me away and grasping his foot tighter.

That was when my dad opened my door and said, "Rosie, we heard a crash, are you-"

He stopped midsentence as he stared at Scorpius and I standing in my room. Then his face became etched with rage.


End file.
